1. 1 QUALITY ASSURANCE AT A DISTANCE

2. 2 QA OF BRANCH CAMPUSES Badr Aboul-Ela Director, CAA, UAE Vice-President, ANQAHE

3. 3 Branch Campuses Definition   Establishment operated in the name of the home (foreign) institution   Qualification is awarded by the home HEI

4. 4 Not For-Profit (few), For-Profit (Majority) Funding Models A. A.Totally funded by the institution (few) B. B.External funding support   From Governmental support in home country   From Government or organizations in host country C. C.Facilities provided (dominating )

5. 5 BC No’s. & Distribution No Accurate Statistics (>100) BC Number increased substantially in the last 10 years. Some are never reported Mainly Developed to Developing countries Main Providers: US, UK, Australia Recently, New providers & New hosts

6. 6 Emerging Hosts & Sources ~ TNE UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman: major hosts UK: major source; emerging host USA: major source C. America: hosts and sources S. America: varying levels of hosts and sources Australia (NZ): major source; emerging host China & India: major hosts, emerging sources Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore: major hosts, emerging sources Central Asia: emerging host Kenya & Mauritius: emerging hosts South Africa: declining host; emerging source Russia: declining source; emerging host Canada: emerging host and source Source: Bjarnason, 2007, © Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

7. 7 Special Education Zone Education City (e.g. Qatar) Academic City (Dubai) Educational Free Zones UAE Educational Free Zones Knowlegde Village Academic City Dubai Health Care City Sharjah Free Zone Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone Total No. of Branch campuses = 35 Some were established in the absence of QA regulations

8. 8 If education is offered as a Free Trade, it should be subjected to quality checks, for Consumer Protection. Food cans produced in Free Zones are inspected through Quality Control Checks to avoid stomach poisoning, BC in Free Zones must be inspected to avoid mind poisoning.

9. 9 Host Country   Cover shortage in H. Ed. opportunities not met by national HEIs   Contribute to national economic development through attracting international students   May help in meeting R & D in host country Benefits

10. 10 Institution   Diversify revenue resources   Advance international profile   Provide international exposure of faculty   Be less dependent on recruitment to home campus Benefits (continued)

11. 11 Students   Access to international/ foreign Ed. system without travel & at lower cost   Overcome social, cultural & visa problems   Access to programs not available in the host country Benefits (continued)

12. 12 Risks Financial loss Damage to reputation Operational challenges   Market fluctuations & Competitiveness   Inability to attract quality faculty   Lack of full understanding of host environment   Meeting host country regulations   Changes in host country regulations (e.g. Jordan, South Africa) Increased volatility of BC

13. 13 QA of BC Concerns over Quality of Ed at BC, due to differences in QA System compared to Home Campus (Yokoyamaha, 2008)

14. 14 Currently: Mixed Bag of HEI with different qualities QA of BC (continued)

15. 15 Who Carries the responsibility? QA of BC (continued)

16. 16 Role of QAA in the Provider Country HEI from countries with: a) a)No QAA b) b)QAA of less than acceptable standards c) c)QAA of “Good Standards”

17. 17 A main requirement: Approval of QAA at Home. The system is built on TRUST Are all home QAA doing a “good job”?   Some DO   Some have special standards & procedures for BC, which are followed / not followed In the UAE, Some BC were never visited by “Good” home QAA!!!

18. 18 Who judges/ follows the home QAA? “Who watches the Watchman?” Finkin, 2009 (USA) This question becomes more important for QA of BC

19. 19 Be ware of Accreditation Mills > 137 Agencies are listed as Unrecognized QAA (UNQAAHE !!) Possible role for INQAAHE in recognizing QAAs which align with GGP

20. 20 Role of QA in host country Host countries need and have the right to protect their students with their own oversight process Countries vary in their regulatory control of BC

21. 21 Austria, Denmark, France Malta, Russia Netherlands, Peru, UK, Canada, USA Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel India Japan, South Korea South Africa, Jordan, UAE Greece, Belgium, More Restrictive Less Restrictive Adopted from Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

22. 22 What to look for? A. A.Before Initial Approval/ Licensure 1. 1.Criteria & Procedures used by home QA in its approval of BC, (evidence-based with detailed report) (Some QAAs give approval without visiting BCs)

23. 23 2. 2.Check the institution’s fitness of purpose:   Compatibility of country’s strategic/ development plan   Suitability to serve local Ed. and research   Availability of a sound Business Plan, Feasibility Study (Student availability, financial support, market survey)   Risk Management Plan with Teach-out Provision What to look for? (Continued)

24. 24 For Purpose: Ability to do what it is supposed to do in the right way   Appropriate & Sound programs   Faculty & other HR   Learning resources   Control of Admission   Student Support   Internal QA What to look for? (Continued)

25. 25 When BC is in operation Host QAA should have criteria & procedures for periodic review Host QAA has advantages over Provider QAA   Location & ability to conduct more frequent visits   Better ability to understand local environment & culture

26. 26 Role of HEI Main Responsibility for QA lies with the HEI itself HEIs need to protect their reputation Need to fully understand the local conditions (finance, students, local regulations…etc) Have a fully developed Risk Assessment Plan as Basis for deciding on having BC Tier 1 institutions are often more reluctant to have BC, mainly due to inability to provide faculty of similar quality

27. 27 Need for Cooperation Between Home & Host QAA The system is built on TRUST Recognized Local QAA (follow GGP) should be taken as valuable source to home QAA Collaborative agreements should be encouraged, Good Example: ENCA Needed in other regions & also between QAAs in different regions (INQAAHE’s future list of recognized QAA)

28. 28 Further Steps for cooperation Encourage reports & Inf. exchange Joint review visits   Some QAAs have Policies & Procedures for joint reviews (e.g. MSCHE, 2002)   Similar approaches are encouraged

29. 29

30. 30 Joined Visits Help alleviating pressure, time, effort & resources placed on the institution in preparing the self-study & associated site visit

31. 31 Joint Visits Same principle applies to joint visits of host QAA & Professional Accreditation Agencies

32. 32 Conclusion QA of BCs is a Collective Effort of Host QAA Home QAA HEI Collaboration should be the way forward

33. 33 Thank You Badr Aboul-Ela